Q: What is the "Synaxarion"?

A: There is not a single precise answer because the exact definition has changed considerably over time. For a general introduction, see the Wikipedia entry "Synaxarium". This article lists two kinds of Synaxaria (Simple and Historical), but while this is useful to know, we can further refine our understanding by identifying specific bodies of Synaxaria literature as Lectionary and Calendar Synaxaria:

I. Lectionary Synaxaria

1a) The earliest type of Synaxaria were indeces of Biblical and other lessons to be read in church (i.e., listings of Biblical Lectionary pericopes), usually listed according to the calendar year, but also according to the Paschalion cycle (from Pascha, including the Sundays after Pascha and Pentecost, the Lenten cycle, and ending with Holy Saturday).

1b) Then the Synaxarion was filled up with the whole text of the pericopes to be read, forming the complete Biblical Lectionaries.

1c) Later, the complete texts of the Gospels and Epistles, now forming two separate liturgical books, were presented intact, with numbers indicating the separate pericopes, and the earlier index-Synaxaria were added to the backs of these books, listing the pericope numbers of the appointed readings. This arrangement continues to be used in modern editions of the Gospels and Epistles.

II. Calender Synaxaria

2a) Many of the early index-Synaxaria (see 1a above) were expanded upon and became lists of the saints arranged in the order of their anniversaries, e.g. the early liturgical calendars of the fixed year. In the West, some metrical calendars compiled in the Middle Ages were also called Synaxaria.

2b) In the 10th century, scribes began to including biographical notices to these calendar listings. "The notices given in the historical synaxaria are summaries of those in the great menologies, or collections of lives of saints, for the twelve months of the year. As the lessons in the Byzantine Divine Office are always lives of saints, the Synaxarion became the collection of short lives of saints and accounts of events whose memory is kept." (from the above-referenced Wikipedia article) Another name for these synaxaria containing brief "Lives of the Saints" is the Prologue, a term which did not remain in popular use in the Byzantine church, but which remained popular among the Slavic nations. Essentially, the Slavonic Prolog (traditionally published in 4 volumes containing brief lives of the saints for 3 months per volume) and the modern Greek Synaxarion are the same (or at least analogous) collections.

(The longer, full texts of the Lives of the Saints is usually contained in 12 separate volumes, in the modern Greek Menologion (-ia), and the Slavonic Velikii Chetii Minei (the "Great Reading Menaion" compiled by the Russian Metropolitan Makarii in the 17th century, a collection which was rarely printed in Russia, and which is virtually impossible to find now. This was later followed by a new 12-volume collection of the Lives of the Saints by St. Dimitrii [Tuptalo] of Rostov, first printed in 1711-18.)

2c) "Emperor Basil II (976-1025) ordered a revision of the Synaxarion (much of which was done by St. Symeon Metaphrastes), which forms an important element of the present official edition (Analecta Bollandiana, XIV, 1895, p. 404). The Synaxarion is not now used as a separate book; it is incorporated in the Monthly Menaia. The account of the saint or feast is read in Matins (Orthros) after the sixth ode of the Canon. It is printed in its place here, and bears each time the name synaxarion as title. Synaxarion then in modern use means, not the whole collection, but each separate lesson in the Menaia and other books." (from the above-referenced Wikipedia article)

[A version of the Monthly Synaxarion in Greek is being translated into English. Already 5 out of 6 volumes are available. According to the prefatory material, this edition is ultimately based on the "Synaxarion of the Church of Constantinople", for which there exists a critical edition published in 1902. But just how faithful the new English version is to that original source is not clear. There are many additional lives in the English version (including some ancient Western saints and various modern saints, as well as more obscure earlier saints that were venerated locally in various places). -- more information coming]

2d) In some modern editions of the Greek Monthly Menaia, however, the Synaxarion readings have been omitted, and only the introductory headings of these readings have been retained. These headings are in the form of poetic verses, often couplets or three lines of semi-Homeric Greek, incorporating puns and other literary antics.

2e) A separate set of synaxaria readings is contained in the two volumes of the Triodia (the Lenten Triodion and the Pentecostarion), which provide service materials for the movable portion of the year. (These readings have been omittd in many modern editions of the Slavonic Triodia, but are still preserved in the Greek and Old Rite Russian books.)

III. Other Uses of the Term "Synaxarion"

One other use (or perhaps mis-use) of this title is encountered in monastic manuscripts, where it apparently is synonymous with the word Typicon. Concievably, the original text started out as a calendar synaxarion and was expanded to include detailed liturgical rubrics while retaining its original manuscript title. Two specific instances are noted:

a) the Synaxarion of the long extinct Evergetis Monastery of the Theotokos, which has been translated and published in Belfast, Ireland (with atrocious translation problems, I might add, particularly in choice of vocabulary that doesn't relate to the already well established terminology); see the reference below.

b) [forgot where I saw the reference]

LINKS - ССЫЛКИ

Ιερά Μητρόπολις Αττικής - Συναξαριστής (Warning: The pages at this site are not designated with a font encoding; one should select Greek Windows-1253 if necessary. Temporarily setting "Windows Greek" as your default browser encoding will allow free movement around the site without having to select the text encoding for every page.) — The Great Synaxaristes is a multi-volume set of books in which are listed the commemorations for each day of the year with an account or description (some brief and some rather extensive) of each. (I am not certain if this has been translated into English and published; information will be added at a later date. Possibly the following item:)

The Synaxarion: The Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Published by the Holy Convent of the Annunciation of Our Lady, Ormylia (Chalkidike, Greece), 1998. (6 volumes?) – Introduction

EDITIONS FOR SALE

• Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion, translated by Robert Parent, available from Holy Dormition Monastery Press.
• Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion, edited by Fr. David Kidd and Mother Gabriella Ursache.
• The Synaxarion of the Monastery of the Theotokos Evergetis, Translated/Edited by Robert H. Jordan (see above)
• Пролог. В 2-х кн. Художник Комаров Г.А. - М., Изд-во Сретенского монастыря, 2003.
  Кн. 1-я: Сентябрь-февраль, 848 с., Кн. 2-я: Март-август, 792 с. (Репринт синодального издания 1895-1896 гг.)

• The Synaxarion Vol. I
• The Synaxarion Vol. II
  • REVIEW: FRIENDS OF MOUNT ATHOS
  • REVIEW: Vol. III
  • NOTE: Volumes III & IV are now available